PURPOSE To determine age-related changes in the composition of the urea-soluble (US) protein fraction from lenses of senescence-accelerated OXYS (cataract model) and Wistar (control) rats and to establish posttranslational modifications (PTMs) occurring under enhanced oxidative stress in OXYS lenses. METHODS The identity and the relative abundance of crystallins in the US fractions were deter...

BACKGROUND The expression of heterologous proteins in Escherichia coli is strongly affected by codon bias. This phenomenon occurs when the codon usage of the mRNA coding for the foreign protein differs from that of the bacterium. The ribosome pauses upon encountering a rare codon and may detach from the mRNA, thereby the yield of protein expression is reduced. Several bacterial strains have bee...

PURPOSE Aldose reductase (AR) has been a drug target because of its involvement in the development of secondary complications of diabetes including cataract. We have previously reported that the aqueous extract of Emblica officinalis and its constituent tannoids inhibit AR in vitro and prevent hyperglycemia-induced lens opacification in organ culture. The purpose of the current study was to inv...

PURPOSE Development in marsupials takes place predominantly ex utero while the young is attached to a nipple in the mother's pouch, very different from that in other species. This study was undertaken to examine whether this affects lens growth and the production of lens proteins in kangaroos. METHODS Fresh lenses were obtained at official culls from eastern gray kangaroos (Macropus giganteus...

We established the identity of a 52-kDa protein secreted by fetal lamb ductus arteriosus (DA) smooth muscle cells (SMC) and suggest how it might be related to structural changes unique to DA development, i.e. reduced assembly of elastic laminae and associated formation of intimal cushions. We produced a monoclonal antibody (HI-20) to the 52-kDa protein and observed, by electron microscopy, immu...

PURPOSE To compare levels of S-glutathiolation and S-cysteinylation occurring at more than 60 cysteine residues of 12 different guinea pig lens water-soluble nuclear crystallins following treatment of the animals with hyperbaric oxygen (HBO). METHODS Guinea pigs (initially 18 months old) were treated 30X (3X per week for 10 weeks) with HBO (2.5 atm 100% O(2) for 2.5 h) as a model to study the...

PURPOSE The aim of the study was to comparatively analyze crystallin fragments in the water soluble high molecular weight (WS-HMW) and in the water insoluble (WI) protein fractions of human cataractous (with nuclear opacity) and age matched normal lenses to determine the identity of crystallin species that show cataract specific changes such as truncation and post-translational modifications. B...

PURPOSE Selenite-induced cataractogenesis is mediated by oxidative stress, accumulation of calcium and activation of lenticular calpains. Calpains are a super family of Ca2+ dependent proteases, which are involved in lens protein proteolysis and insolubilization. Many inhibitors could prevent calpain-induced proteolysis of alpha- and beta-crystallins in rodent cataracts. Evaluating natural sour...

PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of curcumin and its source, turmeric, on streptozotocin-induced diabetic cataract in rats. METHODS Wistar-NIN rats were selected and diabetes was induced by streptozotocin (35 mg/kg body weight, intraperitoneally) and divided into four groups (group II-V). The control (group I) rats received only vehicle. Group I and II animals r...